RESOURCE ALLOCATION IN DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING SYSTEMS

• US 20200136990A1
• Filed: 12/23/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pearson Education Incorporated (Pearson plc)
• Original Assignee: Pearson Education Incorporated (Pearson plc)
• Inventors: DRONEN, Nicholas A., FOLTZ, Peter W., GARNER, Holly, LORING, Miles T., KAPOOR, Vishal
• Granted Patent: US 10,938,738 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4881 Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/783 Distributed allocation of resources, e.g. bandwidth brokers

Abstract

A distributed processing system is disclosed herein. The distributed processing system includes a server, a database server, and an application server that are interconnected via a network, and connected via the network to a plurality of independent processing units. The independent processing units can include an analysis engine that is machine-learning-capable, and thus uniquely completes its processing tasks. The server can provide one or several pieces of data to one or several of the independent processing units, can receive analysis results from these one or several independent processing units, and can update the result based on a value characterizing the machine learning of the independent processing unit.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a database coupled to a computer network and storing;

a plurality of tasks; and

an accuracy parameter for each of the plurality of tasks;

a first computing device coupled to the computer network;

a second computing device coupled to the computer network; and

a server, comprising at least one server hardware computing device coupled to the computer network and including at least one processor executing instructions within memory which, when executed, cause the system to;

select, from the database, a task within the plurality of tasks;

transmit the task through the computer network to the first computing device and the second computing device;

receive, through the computer network, a first evaluation characterizing the task from the first computing device and a second evaluation characterizing the task from the second computing device;

select, from the database, the accuracy parameter for the task, the accuracy parameter characterizing an attribute common to the first evaluation and the second evaluation;

generate a score for the accuracy parameter according to at least one difference between the first evaluation and the second evaluation; and

update the accuracy parameter within the database to reflect the score.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the system to:

identify a plurality of computing devices sharing a common computing device parameter; and

select the first computing device and the second computing device from the plurality of computing devices.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the instructions further cause the system to:

transmit at least one additional evaluation through the computer network to at least one additional computing device in the plurality of computing devices;

receive, from the at least one additional computing device, at least one additional evaluation;

generate the score according to at least one difference between the first evaluation, the second evaluation, and the at least one additional evaluation; and

update the accuracy parameter within the database to reflect the score.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the instructions further cause the system to coordinate a plurality of processing resources in the plurality of computing devices to complete the task.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the instructions further cause the system to:

transmit a first instruction to the first computing device to complete a first portion of the task; and

transmit a second instruction to the second computing device to complete a second portion of the task.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the instructions further cause the system to:

identify, within the plurality of computing devices, a plurality of latent or unused resources; and

coordinate the plurality of latent or unused resources to complete at least one additional task.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the system to:

divide the task into a plurality of subtasks;

generate, from each of the plurality of subtasks, a metric indicating a processing efficiency of each of the plurality of subtasks;

identify, within the plurality of subtasks, at least one subtask associated with the metric below a predetermined threshold; and

replace each of the at least one subtask with a replacement subtask, having the metric above the predetermined threshold.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the metric identifies at least one contribution factor within each of the plurality of subtasks, wherein the at least one contribution factor for the at least one subtask indicates a lower positive effect on the processing efficiency, and the at least one contribution factor for the replacement subtask indicates a higher positive effect on the processing efficiency.

9. A method comprising:

storing, by a server comprising at least one server hardware computing device coupled to a computer network and including at least one processor executing instructions within memory, within a database coupled to the computer network;

a plurality of tasks; and

an accuracy parameter for each of the plurality of tasks;

selecting, by the server from the database, a task within a plurality of tasks;

transmitting, by the server, the task through the computer network to a first computing device coupled to the computer network, and to a second computing device coupled to the computer network;

receiving, by the server through the computer network, a first evaluation characterizing the task from the first computing device and a second evaluation characterizing the task from the second computing device;

selecting, by the server from the database, the accuracy parameter for the task, the accuracy parameter characterizing an attribute common to the first evaluation and the second evaluation;

generating, by the server, a score for the accuracy parameter according to at least one difference between the first evaluation and the second evaluation; and

updating, by the server, the accuracy parameter within the database to reflect the score.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of coordinating the completion of the task, as a processing task, among a plurality of processing resources within a plurality of computing devices including the first computing device and the second computing device.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the first computing device is operated in a distributed processing environment in a first geographical location, and the second computing device is operated in the distributed processing environment in a second geographical location.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of receiving:

the first evaluation as a first user input from the first computing device and the second evaluation as a second user input from the second computing device;

or

the first evaluation as an output from a first automated process on the first computing device and the second evaluation as a second automated process on the second computing device.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

dividing, by the server, the task into a plurality of subtasks;

generating, by the server from each of the plurality of subtasks, a metric indicating a processing efficiency of each of the plurality of subtasks;

identifying, by the server within the plurality of subtasks, at least one subtask associated with the metric below a predetermined threshold; and

replacing, by the server, each of the at least one subtask with a replacement subtask, having the metric above the predetermined threshold.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the metric identifies at least one contribution factor within each of the plurality of subtasks, wherein the at least one contribution factor for the at least one subtask indicates a lower positive effect on the processing efficiency, and the at least one contribution factor for the replacement subtask indicates a higher positive effect on the processing efficiency.

15. A system comprising a server, comprising at least one server hardware computing device coupled to a computer network and including at least one processor executing instructions within memory, configured to:

store, within a database coupled to the computer network;

a plurality of tasks; and

an accuracy parameter for each of the plurality of tasks;

select, from the database, a task within a plurality of tasks;

transmit the task through the computer network to a first computing device coupled to the computer network, and to a second computing device coupled to the computer network;

receive, through the computer network, a first evaluation characterizing the task from the first computing device and a second evaluation characterizing the task from the second computing device;

select, from the database, the accuracy parameter for the task, the accuracy parameter characterizing an attribute common to the first evaluation and the second evaluation;

generate a score for the accuracy parameter according to at least one difference between the first evaluation and the second evaluation; and

update the accuracy parameter within the database to reflect the score.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the server is further configured to:

divide the task into a plurality of subtasks;

generate, from each of the plurality of subtasks, a metric indicating a processing efficiency of each of the plurality of subtasks;

identify, within the plurality of subtasks, at least one subtask associated with the metric below a predetermined threshold; and

replace each of the at least one subtask with a replacement subtask, having the metric above the predetermined threshold.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the metric identifies at least one contribution factor within each of the plurality of subtasks, wherein the at least one contribution factor for the at least one subtask indicates a lower positive effect on the processing efficiency, and the at least one contribution factor for the replacement subtask indicates a higher positive effect on the processing efficiency.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the server is further configured to coordinate a plurality of processing resources in a plurality of computing devices to complete the task.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the server is further configured to:

transmit a first instruction to the first computing device to complete a first portion of the task; and

transmit a second instruction to the second computing device to complete a second portion of the task.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the server is further configured to:

identify, within the plurality of computing devices, a plurality of latent or unused resources; and

coordinate the plurality of latent or unused resources to complete at least one additional task.